104 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
his professional brother, “ he is ignorant as the rest 
of the people, but a greater rogue,” — a pregnant saying. 
Yet here “ the man of two worlds ” is not Vhomme de 
revolution , and he suffices for the small “ spiritual 
wants ” of his flock. He has charge of the “ Kizila,” 
the “ Chigella ” of Merolla and the “ Quistilla ” of James 
Barbot — Anglice putting things in fetish, which cor- 
responds with the Tahitian tapu or taboo. The 
African idea is, that he who touches the article, for 
instance, gold on the eastern coast of Guinea, will 
inevitably come to grief. When “ fetish is taken off,” 
as by the seller of palm wine who tastes it in presence 
of the buyer, the precaution is evidently against poison. 
Many of these “ Kizila ” are self-imposed, for instance 
a water melon may never enter Banza Nokki, and, 
though slaves may eat bananas upon a journey, the 
master may not. Others refuse the flesh of a fowl 
until it has been tasted by a woman. These rules are 
delivered to the young, either by the fetishman or the 
parents, and, when broken, they lead to death, doubt- 
less often the consequence of strong belief. The 
Nganga superintends, as grand inquisitor, the witch- 
ordeal, by causing the accused to chew red-wood and 
other drugs in this land ferax venenorum. Park was 
right : “ By witchcraft is meant pretended magic, 
affecting the lives and healths of persons, in other 
words it is the administering of poison.” European 
“ Narratives of Sorcery and Magic ” exactly explain 
the African idea, except in one point : there the witch 
“ only suffered from not being able to prove to Satan 
how much she burned to suffer for his sake ; ” here 
she has no Satan. Both European and African are 
the firmest believers in their own powers ; they often 
confess, although knowing that the confession leads 
directly to torture and death, with all the diabolical 
ingenuity of which either race was capable. In 
Tuckey’s time a bargain was concluded by breaking a 
leaf or a blade of grass, and this rite it was “ found 
necessary to perform with the seller of every fowl : ” 
apparently it is now obsolete. Finally, although the 
